Red Eye Jane

from The Offtopics - "Back on the Zine" EP by The Offtopics

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
The Offtopics eight-track self-titled EP, the culmination of their Back On The Zine project, was a massive undertaking the Melbourne soul band. Not just in the fact that the bring the EP to fruition, the eight-piece funk group released three acclaimed singles, complete with comic-style covers in the lead-up, but mainly for the 18-month period it took to record the 12-inch. That experience in the studio – marred in part by a departing band member and a restructure of plans, a stint of ill-health – has helped carve out the final sound for the EP, punchy upbeat, funky, soulful and the ultimate party, pretty much everything that the Offtopics stand for in their live show.
It is fitting then that The Offtopics went into the studio with the aim of recording the songs and arrangements as close to their live shows as possible. Lead singer and funk dynamo Polash Larsen says they just wanted to create the entire release ‘live’. “The idea was that the rhythm section, comprising of guitar, bass, drums and keyboards would lay down a bed over which we could put our horn parts, special solos and vocals,” he says. “This could be sweetened with some percussion and handclaps if we felt like it. This is usually my rough and ready approach.”
Things didn’t quite pan out that way – losing their guitarist mid-recording meant a lot of the recording wasn’t done in the order initially planned. Polash instead took the pragmatic approach of keeping the project on track and decided they would record all the guitar parts within the next two weeks, and took on all the guitar duties, ensuring the recording sessions went ahead and the sound the band wanted was achieved.
Leading into their studio time to lay down the eight tracks for the EP, The Offtopics needed to whittle down the tracks they wanted to record for the EP, which in itself was another process. “I think a band’s first recording has to be a kind of statement that encapsulates the musical identity of the group,” says Polash. “By the time we were set to record there were 20 songs (mostly original) that had been played live by the group at one point or another. The EP wasn’t really written for, as the process was more reductive in that it was about letting the most appropriate songs choose themselves. I’ve never had the luxury of writing a bunch of songs specifically for recording so usually it’s about culling. This is one part of the process I tend to struggle with so I open it up to discussion. Everyone in the band has been or still is currently, the leader of their own group so their opinions on what’s a ‘good’ song counts for a lot. This culling process is usually informed by recording a very rough run through of everything that’s on the table. We then go away and listen to it before working towards a consensus.”
When it came to deciding where to record, Nick Herrera at The Grove came highly recommended. The band had already recorded some demos in a lounge-room mobile studio set-up, but didn’t want to pursue this avenue for the final tracks. Nick was no stranger to recording with big bands, and came with a reputation of having worked with brass bands, something that was appealing to Polash. He engineered Hiatus Kaiyote’s 2016 Grammy-nominated single Breathing Underwater. “Nick could record at both the band hall where we rehearsed and at his studio The Grove,” he says. “In the end I opted for working at The Grove as Nick explained that he could work more efficiently there and he had access to more equipment. He was also willing to work in a piecemeal way over an extended period fitting the sessions around everyone’s commitments – which was just as well!”
The EP was mastered by Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering, and all comic artwork was created by Melanie Miles at Hybrid Expression. The vinyl for the singles and the EP was pressed at Zenith Records. For Polash, the finished product is more than what he hoped for and a release that he and the band are proud of. Due to the effort that went into the EP, the band wanted it to be more than a one-off release – they wanted it to be something truly special. “It’s a far more polished sounding product that what I originally had planned,” he says. “I had always aspired to make a vinyl pressing but I hadn’t really thought too deeply about the implications of that or what would be involved musically – Nick’s sonic knowledge was really crucial here. CDs are becoming less important in inner-city markets. While a single song on mp3 doesn’t seem all that special to me, a proper seven-inch vinyl with an A-side and a B-side with kooky cover art does. A vinyl 12-inch for me evokes all the positive nostalgia that I get when I remember ‘discovering’ my parents’ record collection. Eight songs presented an opportunity to be repackaged as two-plus-two-plus-two and then six-plus-two equal eight. Working further along I imagined what these releases might look like all together. Around the corner from my house was a small comics studio and I hatched a plan to devise artwork that would create a narrative going from cover to cover to be resolved on the final release. The fold-out poster helps the covers hang together but also reflects the local focus of the project. The songs were written, rehearsed, recorded, mixed, mastered and the covers designed on locations somewhere on or just off the edge of that map.”

Includes unlimited streaming of The Offtopics - "Back on the Zine" EP via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Polash From The Garden, The Offtopics Live At Studio 5, The Offtopics - "Back on the Zine" EP, A Man Needs Cooling, Funky Grandma, Red Eye Jane, Sunrise in Richmond, and Sunrise in Richmond 7" Vinyl. , and , .

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about

Now how can I explain? We gotta give this girl a name, she liked a toke, and a little smoke, so we’ll call her Red Eye Jane...
The inspiration for Red Eye Jane came out of ‘tall tales’ told in rehearsals, some of which didn’t need much of a nudge for Polash to try and turn it into something comedic. Musically, it was inspired by the New Orleans 60s groove sounds made famous by the likes of Allen Toussaint, and turned into a guitar-driven rhumba boogie. Heading into the studio, there were a few special tweaks the band used to get their desired sound.
“The main rhythm guitar is a hollow-body Gretsch recorded through two amps,” says Polash. “Both amps were close mic’d and there’s a third mic catching both signals plus a bit of acoustic plunkety plunk in the middle of the room. We also went for a dirty-sounding keyboard tone but on the first listen the rhythm guitar and keys were sitting in the same sonic pocket. Everything was a bit thick in the middle. That’s ok for cuddles on a cold winter’s night but it doesn’t cut it in a mix in my opinion so I quickly overdubbed a trebly guitar part using Nick’s hybrid Strat/Tele thing. It sounds like an ice-pick but it’s the right tonal counterpoint to everything else. I was a bit rushed laying that part down and I tend to be all thumbs on a Strat. The playing is a little erratic but hopefully it adds to the quirky vibe of the song. We had great fun putting handclaps and shouty BV’s on the song concluding with yelling and whooping for an end of party feel.”

lyrics

RED EYE JANE - Bb

RIFF
db-f-ab-bb-db bb ab
db-f-ab-bb-bb

Bb
Dan had a girlfriend
Lived up by Lygon
Half Dutch and half Maltese
So damn fine she nearly drove him to his knees.

Bb
Red Eye-oh. He’s got the Eye-oh.
Db Eb Bb
Eye-oh Eye-oh Singin’ Red Red Red Eye-oh.

Now how can I explain?
We gotta give this girl a name.
She liked a toke and a little smoke
So we’ll call her Red Eye Jane.

Red Eye-oh. He’s got the Eye-oh.
Eye-oh Eye-oh Singin’ Red Red Red Eye-oh.

Dan would try to please her,
This six foot tall Malteser
With olive skin, she’s built for sin
Silky thighs he want to get buried in.

Red Eye-oh. He’s got the Eye-oh.
Eye-oh Eye-oh Singin’ Red Red Red Eye-oh.

Red Eye liked to tan
She always called on Dan
To set in motion the rubbing of lotion
He’s such a helpful man

Red Eye-oh. He’s got the Eye-oh.
Eye-oh Eye-oh Singin’ Red Red Red Eye-oh.

BRIDGE
While Jane is getting oiled up
Dan’s blood is getting boiled up
He gets a tent in his stubbies
He’s packing a chubby
Things are getting hot
Got no time to check if the oil
is extra virgin or not
Probably not.

RIFF
He tries to embrace
She flew up past his face
From her Carlton flat she hit the mat
She went splat on the street below

Red Eye-oh. He’s got the Eye-oh.
Eye-oh Eye-oh Singin’ Red Red Red Eye-oh.
Red Red Red Eye-oh.
Red Red Red Eye-oh.

credits

from The Offtopics - "Back on the Zine" EP, released November 2, 2018
Polash Larsen: Guitars, Lead vocals
Mark Bretherton: Keyboards, Backing vocals
Linc Yow Yeh: Drums, Backing Vocals
Tim Webb: Bass, Percussion
Omid Shayan: Saxophones
Howard Norsetter: Trumpet

license

about

The Offtopics Melbourne, Australia

From Bourbon Street in New Orleans to Memphis and Jamaica via the bars of Brunswick, The Offtopics deliver infectious songs that will make you tap your feet and bring a smile to your face. Fronted by funk dynamo Polash Larsen, these are some of Melbourne’s most talented musicians working their basses off to show you a good time. ... more